Competition/Alliance Scouting FTC Kettering Kickoff September 10, 2016 Prepared by Team Mentors: Robert Williams (GM Transmission Control Engineer) & Kevin Learman (GM Brake Development Engineer) Revised: 09/10/2016
The Purpose of Scouting Scouting is collecting data on other teams to understand their capabilities and weaknesses i.e. what game tasks/objectives can they and can they not do Determine the best offensive or defensive strategy against Competitor Teams e.g. Selection of defenses (Stronghold Challenge) e.g. Should we steal recycle cans in autonomous mode or participate in coopertition (Recycle Rush) Determine how best to work with Alliance Partners in a given match Aid in making Alliance Selection decisions in Finals Find teams that best complement your team Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 2
Types of Scouting Interview Scouting: Speaking face-to-face with team members and asking questions about their robot and their preferred/planned game strategies and recording their responses Not necessarily extremely accurate embellishment and wishful thinking, team member knowledge of robot performance Gives the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends Have some fun with it Match Scouting: Statistics on the accomplishment of the teams as they happen in actual matches More accurate, actions in matches demonstrate actual performance Actions speak louder than words Early matches may not give clear picture of capabilities, but are still useful Drive Team warming up, Pit Team working out robot issues, Programming corrections Many data points needed for a given team to have meaningful, reliable information Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 3
FTC Cascade Effect Overview High Center Goal Kickstand Ramp Scoring Zones Rolling Goal Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 4
Cascade Effect Autonomous Mode - Points are earned for releasing the kickstand & for driving off the ramp - also score points by placing balls in the goals and/or by moving the goals into a scoring zones Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 5
Cascade Effect Tele-Op Mode - Points are earned by placing balls into the scoring goals and/or moving the goals to the scoring zones (more points for taller goals) - Also score points for parking in a scoring zone at the end of the game - Big points for placing balls in the center goal during the End Game Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 6
Match Play Datasheet Suggestions Decide what you want to learn about each robot during the match play Autonomous capabilities Tele-Op capabilities Does the robot perform consistently Might want to look for capabilities that compliment your robot s capabilities (i.e. pick a robot that has strengths that your robot doesn t have) Keep your data sheet simple & easy to use If it s too complicated the team members doing the scouting won t want to use it A datasheet with too many metrics may make it hard to fill out easily Make it easy to mark each item you want recorded (minimal writing/typing) Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 7
Datasheet Example (Complicated Version) 7032 Team Number: #32 Match Number: Thunder Bots Team Name: - Busy datasheet - Long Questions - Not clear how to answer some questions It s a little unclear how to record this information Autonomous: Robot drove from Platform onto the Field? Yes Robot released the Kickstand to release the balls? No Robot was able to put a ball in a rolling Goal? - 30 cm Goal Tele-Op Height of balls in 30 cm goal Height of balls in 60 cm goal Height of balls in 90 cm goal - 60 cm Goal Height of balls in center goal during end game - 90 cm Goal Yes Robot was able to put the ball in the high center goal? No How many Rolling goals were in the parking zone? 1 from 70322 robot; 1 from alliance team (#5954) How many did 7032 robot put in the parking zone? It s not clear. Did the alliance partner place some of these in the parking zone? Y N N?? 6 ~ 5 cm (1 big ball; 2 small)?? 10 ~ 10 cm?? ~ 124 big balls?? ~ Full 3 large balls & some small Robot was parked on the ramp at the end of the game? Yes How many rolling goals did the robot move to the ramp? 1 Robot was parked in the parking zone at the end of the game? No, but alliance team was How many rolling goals did the robot move to the parking zone? 1 It s hard to tell the exact height of the balls in the goals It will be one or the other; not both. We really only need one question here Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 8
Datasheet Example (Simple Version) Simple Y & N questions make it easy The questions should be easy to understand and the data should be easy to enter The questions should be answered on the performance of one robot; NOT the team performance; each robot should be scouted separately Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 9
Check Online for help I found this Scouting tip sheet online Lots of teams like to share their hard work with other teams Some teams might even have scouting sheets that you can use (such as this one from team 6209) Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 10
Sample Scouting Data Analysis Spreadsheet 1. For FRC Team 1322 the scouting data is collected and recorded in a Memento database on a Scouting Tablet. 2. After data is collected, it has to be exported as a CSV, and the CSV uploaded from Tablet on to a cloud, Google Drive, or Notebook 3. CSVs from each Tablet, then compiled into a single Scouting Spreadsheet. 4. Data can then be analyzed to extract desired data. Filters are provided to aid in the analysis. Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 11
Spreadsheet Filters Filters are available in the Headings row via a pulldown list in each row allowing you filter on one or more entries in that column Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 12
Filter by Team Number Filter by Team#, to see by Team/Teams what they did in each match. NOTE: From States, these teams we only had data from 2 matches, of the other teams we had data for, we only had data from 1 match. Not nearly enough to draw any accurate conclusions. Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 13
Filter on a Alliance Bringing up 3 teams in an alliance can show what objectives they can or cannot do. NOTE: From States, these teams we only had data from 1 match. Not enough to draw any real conclusions. Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 14
Filter on Objective Filter on which teams can Scale the Tower. Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 15
Scouting Observations Scouting data has the potential to be very useful Some teams spend significant time and energy on scouting Team1322, over the last few years has not taken it so seriously It is not a task just to keep idle team member busy, it has a useful purpose It can only be useful if we have several data points on each team Statistics rules say 6 or more start to make a statistical significant sample size 6 can be difficult if there are only 8 matches per team in the qualifying round Cut-off scouting data 2/3 to 3/4 through qualifications to start the upload and processing In States Finals in 2016: Data was not collected on every team A half-dozen teams had 2 matches of data, the rest only had 1 1 or 2 matches is not enough data to make intelligent decisions about a team Scouting can only be successful if the team takes it serious and collects the data Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 16
Any Questions? Competition ScoutingFTC Kettering Kickoff 17
Thank You! Competition ScoutingFTC Kettering Kickoff 18
Backup Slides Competition ScoutingFTC Kettering Kickoff 19
Live Demo on Excel Spreadsheet 1. Go to Excel Spreadsheet 2. Zoom in and show the heading and data 3. Filter on a few different things to show examples and give the team an idea of how it can be used. Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 20
Team 1322 Scouting Captain/Squad Responsibilities 1. Create and Maintain the Memento DB and Tablets Including making sure tablets have s/w updates and are charged 2. Create and Maintain the Game Scouting Analysis Spreadsheet 3. Develop Process to upload CSVs, download CSVs to single notebook, import CSVs into Excel or Google Docs Spreadsheet App (Excel is a little easier to use) 4. Supervise scouting during competition 5. Lead scouting squad on Interview Scouting visits to other team pits. 6. Enlist and remind/encourage Team Members to take Scouting data 7. Collect tablets, extract/upload CSVs, and Import CSVs into Spreadsheet 8. Perform analysis of data, report results, respond to queries, help strategize Competition/Alliance Scouting - FTC Kettering Kickoff 21